Well, I guess I can&acute;t tell from this thread whether they were for sure or not. But I can&acute;t think of any other explanation for the quick change.

Rachel, as I have said, the last time they got Similac was in December. Thank you for making it look as though they never got food and were starved here. I dont know much about how piggies gain weight, meaning how much they gain daily, but I do know, they ate all day everyday.

I think Rachel is just relating what the changes are on her end. Being defensive won&acute;t solve anything. Since the pigs are improving and they haven&acute;t had Similac since December, then something else was causing problems(unless effects from Similac are longlasting).

Since the pig that died wasn&acute;t autopsied no information can be gleaned from that.

If it was me I would seriously go through all that they ate and drank looking for abnormalities. All I can gather from this thread is that there was one or 2 pigs that mysteriously died(not real clear on how many died) and some pigs a vet felt had something wrong but couldn&acute;t diagnose it. Main symptom seemed to be low weight and bloaty tummies, and small, misshapened turds.

If it was an infection then it would not have gotten better without drugs. Are they on drugs, Rachel?

If they are improving without drugs, I would definitely suspect something they ingested or something in the environment. Until you figure out what the problem is, all other pigs you have are at risk. Maybe these ones had compromised immune systems and were more drastically affected by an environmental or food trigger. Unfortunately any new pig to your home will be stressed and also have a weakened immune system. Until you figure out what the problem is, you will be putting any new pig at risk.

I have heard of whole herds dying from moldy hay. I would be extremely concerned if any of my pigs a had an undiagnosed illness. This is why we have unexplained deaths autopsied. To make sure the rest of the herd will be safe and just as important, to learn.

Tori, I am going to continue to give updates on these pigs because I am trying to find out if there is anything else I should be doing to help them. I&acute;m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. My giving weights and updates is not meant to make it look like you were not feeding them. I never said that.

Pinta, no, they are not on any drugs. They have gained another ounce today and are filling out nicely. The bloated baby is starting to look more proportional and Lori said she&acute;s more active than she was at first, she is now wheeking for food and running around the cage. Lori gave them all Ivermectin as a precaution. We&acute;ve been taking a wait-and-see attitude about giving meds, because like I said before, without wading through four pages of posts, I thought they were on Similac this whole time and thought that made sense that that was the problem.

It&acute;s important to diagnose before giving meds. Since so many meds have side effects or can negatively affect certain organs if the organs are in a weakened state(Lasix is bad news with kidney problems).

This is why I&acute;ve been trying to get to the bottom of the cause. Throwing meds at something that just requires a change in diet or environment could cause a whole new set of problems. If you don&acute;t know what you are treating you could mistake drug side effects for more symptoms of the original problem. You could conceivable end up with a sicker pig than what you started with.

So far it really does seem (since they are improving) to be environmental in cause.

Yes, 3/4 an ounce across the board. I think one of them is going to have long hair. He&acute;s a gorgeous golden agouti and white. Their pictures are on Petfinder under "small and furry" in WI. They got their baths finally, and the one with the worst yellow staining (around his genitals), it didn&acute;t really come off. I&acute;m hoping it grows off. I have a long-haired white sow who gets the same thing, so I keep her hair trimmed really, really short on her bottom, and I think this is the same type of problem.

I did 8 baths tonight, 20 weights and clipped 20 sets of nails, 6 Ivomec and did Neosporin and gauze on the feet of some of the pigs I just got from Animal Control. All in exactly two hours thanks to my wonderful volunteer Jodi, who I kidnapped...her phone line was busy so I drove to her place to pick her up--she didn&acute;t have a chance.

Well, keeping it politically correct. Unpaid teenage slave doesn&acute;t sound as nice. I don&acute;t think I&acute;m THAT intimidating, am I?
---
Yes, they look filled out, to me, almost to where they should be. The weight gain is slowing down now though, to less than an ounce a day.

Last edited by ladyveg on Wed Feb 13, 2002 10:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

This thread was awefully hard to follow because answers were never clear, but I really wonder what was going on with these pigs... I&acute;m glad they are doing better. Can you put a link here to the site where their pictures are?

Well, here&acute;s the only picture I have of them right now, which I took to throw on Petfinder. I&acute;ve been ill lately and haven&acute;t had the oooomph to do much beyond what is necessary. They&acute;re really cute hamster-face looking buggers though.

Click on the link on the post below.

Last edited by ladyveg on Wed Feb 13, 2002 11:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.